Beyond One's Control
by Seng
Summary: Expecting death, Naruto instead finds his destiny intertwined with that of another world, and is eventually left wondering just how much control he truly has over his own future.
1. Chapter 1

Prologue: Sacrifice

"I will believe in you, Uzumaki Naruto," Nagato concluded with a sense of new found resolve. His voice reverberated off the walls of the large hallowed out tree in which they resided, empowering his words. The withered man lifted his hands to form a single hand symbol. "Outer Path—Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique."

"Nagato, you can't-!" Konan attempted to protest, but was quickly cut off by her long-time companion.

"Enough, Konan. I have decided to choose a new path to peace; one I had long thought to be unreachable," Nagato interrupted with a tone of finality. Konan lowered her head in unwilling acceptance of his decision.

Naruto looked on in awe and confusion, not understanding what his just recently enemy was planning to do. He turned toward Konan for an answer. "What's this technique going to do?" he asked.

Konan paused before turning her gaze toward the blond ninja. A rare look of sadness crossed her typically neutral face as she answered, "Nagato is the seventh path of Pain, the Outer path. It gives him the power to return souls to the land of the living at the cost of his own life force."

Naruto was stunned; Nagato even had power over life and death? But if his life force was taken in exchange wouldn't that mean…

"Wait, so if he uses this technique it's going to kill him?" Naruto asked in realization. Konan only gave a small nod in response. The two of them continued to look on toward the long haired man as he performed what would likely be his final act. After several seconds, Nagato dropped his hand symbol and grabbed his head in pain.

"Nagato, what's wrong?!" Konan asked as she moved to assist him. Nagato weakly lifted his head toward his only friend in order to respond.

"It appears my life force has faded too far. The King of Hell will not accept it as adequate compensation for the return of all the lives I have taken," he answered with disappointment.

Konan's eyes widened at the information. Naruto looked on in confusion, not fully understanding what the Rinnegan user meant. "So what does that mean will happen?" Naruto asked for clarification.

"I am already in the process of dying. The King of Hell will only accept the soul of the caster or a willing and living soul in good health as a sacrifice, especially for this great a number," Nagato elaborated for the blond. Naruto's eyes widened for an instant, but he soon looked toward the ground while beginning to clench his fists. No matter what, he had to save his loved ones if he could. That was part of his ninja way, and what he had built his entire life around. He decided what to do in an instant. For him, there was no other logical choice. He raised his head and turned back to Nagato in order to voice his decision.

"Then use mine."

The Akatsuki members looked at Naruto with stunned gazes, hardly believing the resolve with which the blond ninja had stated his idea. Nagato quickly regained his composure and tried to urge the blond to reconsider. "Naruto, I have trusted you with the future. I can't let you use your life so quickly. What of your dream to become Hokage?"

Naruto's gaze on the Akatsuki leader never wavered. "You said that you'll believe in me. So believe me when I say that I believe in all of my friends and loved ones that have died out there. I wouldn't be where I am without all of them. If I have the chance to save all of them, then to me there is no other option. If I turned my back on all of them just so I could save my own life it would go against everything I have ever believed in, dattebayo! If I did that, I wouldn't deserve to be Hokage in the first place. I trust them with the future, so you can trust them too."

Nagato looked on at Naruto with a blank expression. He appeared to consider what Naruto had said before responding. "Are you certain this is what you want?" he asked the teen for confirmation.

Naruto's signature grin appeared on his face. "I've never been more sure of anything in my entire life."

Nagato regarded Naruto silently for several seconds before continuing. "Very well then. Come stand in front of me," Nagato beckoned the blond to come closer to him with a wave of his hand. Once Naruto had arrived, Nagato asked him one final question. "Do you have any final words you wish to say?"

Naruto thought for a moment before turning to Konan. "Could you somehow tell everyone what happened? I feel kinda bad leaving everyone without being able to see them again."

Konan nodded in response, and Naruto decided to add more to his request. "Also, tell them that I was glad I got to have all of them as my friends. I definitely wouldn't have gotten this far without them. They'll need to make sure to keep getting stronger and not slack off though, because I won't be there to save their asses anymore," Naruto chuckled to himself, and then continued, "But I know they can handle it, because we've always been able to before. I will always believe in them no matter where I end up."

Konan's lips twitched into the slightest of smiles as she nodded once again, and Naruto turned back to Nagato. "Alright, I'm ready when you are," Naruto finished.

Nagato reformed the hand seal and began his technique once again.

Naruto wasn't sure what to expect once the technique had begun. The first thing he noticed was a strange pulling sensation in his chest. It wasn't like anything he had ever felt before. As the feeling became stronger, he started to feel his breaths become harder and harder to take in. It felt like the pressure of the world was beginning to close in around him, slowly suffocating him.

Once the corners of his vision began to blacken, he fell to his knees as the power in his legs gave out. He was starting to struggle to even rasp in the smallest amounts of air. He couldn't remember ever feeling so cold before, and was feeling more tired by the second. He tried his hardest to fight off the unmitigable feeling of tiredness that had begun to wash over him, but it was beginning to feel like an impossible battle. Just as the darkness encroaching upon his vision was about to fully take over, he suddenly felt the pull in his chest disappear, and a warm, blinding light enveloped him.

* * *

Naruto launched himself into a sitting position as he began to gasp for air. After finally refilling his lungs, he noticed something quite different about his surroundings. He was in a shallow pool of water. He scratched the back of his head in confusion. Is this where people went when they died? It reminded him too much of his own mindscape. As he got to his feet he noted a major difference about the place he was currently in, as he could see no end to the expanse in sight. "This all there is to the afterlife?" Naruto complained as he crossed his arms.

"So expeditious to accept your fate? I expected greater ardor from one such as you," an unknown voice sounded out from behind Naruto.

Naruto quickly turned around to find the source of the voice. He wasn't expecting to see a horned, stuffy looking old man casually floating in the air. Naruto furrowed his brows as he took in his appearance. The man's long, plain robes made him feel as though he was from a different period entirely. And what was with the way the guy talked? He could barely understand the old geezer. "Who are you?" Naruto asked unceremoniously.

The man gave no indication that he was affected by the blond's slight rudeness. "I am the one known as Hagoromo."

Naruto just deepened his look of confusion. The old man said it like he was supposed to know who he was, but Naruto had never remembered hearing his name. Noticing the boy's increasing bewilderment, Hagoromo offered him another answer, "Those of your era may know me by another designation. I am also called the Sage of the Six Paths."

After a few seconds of thinking, the title finally clicked in Naruto's head. He was pretty sure the Pervy Sage had mentioned the name several times when talking about the founding of ninjutsu. He had always thought that was just a legend though. If the geezer was actually that old, how could he still be alive?

As if reading Naruto's mind, the ancient sage answered Naruto's questions, "You and I view death from divergent frames of reference. My corporeal form succumbed to its agedness many years ago, but my chakra, soul, and psyche have continued to roam and observe the world."

Naruto's eye began to twitch. This old fart was really starting to piss him off. He had to be talking like that on purpose by now. He pointed an accusatory finger at the man and vented his frustration. "Can't you just talk normally?! I can't understand anything you are saying!" he yelled.

Hagoromo maintained his neutral face throughout the outburst and into his next words. "Perhaps the changing of language and culture over time has created a barrier between our capability to communicate. Very well, I will attempt to speak in a manner that you may comprehend."

Naruto stared at the timeless sage expectantly as he waited for him to start talking again. "What's up, boy? Been trying to talk to my man but he's havin' some problems. Ya get what I'm sayin'?" Hagoromo finally said in his usual tone.

Naruto gave the sage an incredulous look, eyes wide and mouth slightly agape. Hagoromo misunderstood his lack of response as him still failing to understand. "Do you still not understand? I did not think such speech would be too complex," he wondered.

Naruto was quick to correct the man, happy he could at least understand what he was saying. "No! I understand. The change in the way you talked just took me by surprise is all," he explained while quickly waving his hands in front of him.

"Bitchin'," said the ancient creator of the ninja arts. Naruto began to scratch the back of his head while giving the sage an uncomfortable look.

"Uh, could you maybe talk a little more formal? I guess you talking like that is actually kind of distracting." Naruto asked as he chuckled uncomfortably. Something about one of the most powerful men in history talking like some teenage delinquent, or at least what the sage thought one sounded like, was unsettling. He also found it almost insulting the sage apparently thought he talked like that.

"Alright, how is this?" Hagoromo attempted to find a middle ground.

"Perfect!" Naruto exclaimed, happy to finally be able to understand the sage without being creeped out.

"Good. Now then, we have many things to talk about."

* * *

Naruto, to say the least, was a bit overwhelmed by all of the information Hagoromo had just given him. A lot of it was confusing, and he didn't get how half of it was even possible, but he had no reason to doubt that all of it had happened. And apparently he was pretty much in the center of all of it. Until he died, that is.

"So, I'm the reincarnation of your son, Ashura. He was constantly fighting his brother, who is reincarnated as Sasuke. I was supposed to be the child of prophecy who would stop all the fighting and save the world. Your mom turned evil and you had to seal her in the moon, and the plan the Akatsuki had would release her. You also created all of the Bijū from some giant evil monster your mom turned into," Naruto recounted to make sure he had all of his facts straight.

"That is correct," Hagoromo said as he nodded solemnly.

"So what does all of that mean now that I died? I kind of messed up the whole prophecy thing didn't I?"

"Though I am able to see into the future to a certain extent, I am not all-knowing. However, I believe the prophecy should still hold true. All that it said was that you would be the catalyst to change the world. That does not necessarily mean you would be the one to directly change it," Hagoromo answered.

Naruto thought for few seconds, trying to think of what he could have done that could start such a large change. "So do you think me dying so I could bring back everyone Nagato killed could be what the prophecy was talking about?"

Hagoromo gave a small nod. "It is quite possible. It would also be fitting considering you are the reincarnation of my son. I know that if he were in the same situation, he would have made the same choice."

Naruto chuckled and shot the sage a grin, "Sounds like a great guy." Naruto then remembered what was probably the most important question left unanswered. "So what now? This can't be all there is to the afterlife is there?"

"I told you when we first met, you shouldn't be so quick to accept your fate. Though your destiny in the Elemental Nations may be over, that does not mean it cannot continue elsewhere," The sage answered cryptically.

"The King of Hell took my life force didn't he? How am I supposed to come back from that?" Naruto asked with a frown. Why was the old geezer starting to talk about destiny all of a sudden?

"While he did take your life force, that does not mean your soul is forever trapped within his stomach. You forget that I also possess the Rinnegan. I have plenty of life force to save a single soul with little repercussion."

"You saved my soul from it?" Naruto asked in surprise, his eyes widening.

Hagoromo gave another nod in confirmation. "Over the many years I have watched the reincarnations of my sons, you were the first to so fully embody Ashura's personality. I suppose it made me feel remorse for how I let the same cycle repeat for so many years with no intervention. Now you have come along and performed a selfless action that may very well bring an end to the cycle, depending on how Indra's reincarnation responds in the future. However, when I looked upon your soul, my precognition showed your destiny was still incomplete. I suddenly felt compelled to intervene. Because of these things, I decided to save you from the King of Hell.

"I have also procured your body. That was the bright light that you likely saw just as your last bit of life force left you. However, you will still not be able to return to the Elemental Nations. Your destiny there ended with your life," Hagoromo finished his explanation.

"I've never really been one to believe in destiny, old man."

At this, even Hagoromo raised an eyebrow. "Says the reincarnation of my son and child of prophecy that appears to have fulfilled his goal in a manner almost exactly as my son would have. Whether you would like to believe it or not, destiny is very much real, even if humans get it wrong quite often. You can often change the path you take to get there, but not the destination."

The sage had a point, even if Naruto was a bit too stubborn to admit it. It was Neji that gave him such a bad view of destiny and fate. While the Hyūga may have been wrong in his view of destiny, that didn't mean there was no such thing as it. Naruto decided to avoid an argument in favor of finding out what he was going to do next. "So then you can't send me back to Konoha? And what happened to the fox?"

"As for Kurama, or the Kyūbi as you know him, his destiny in the Elemental Nations is still incomplete. The prophecy also stated that you would help to unite the tailed beasts. Kurama became disillusioned with humans very quickly, and also created a divide between himself and his brethren with thoughts of superiority.

"What you did today may remedy those issues by showing him humans are far from the evil and hopeless creatures he believed them all to be. I would also not worry about him bringing any harm to your village. I do not believe he will go on such a rampage. And I'm afraid I will not be able to send you back to Konoha. However, if you wish to continue living then I am able to send you somewhere else."

Naruto's shoulders slumped from their sure and confident posture, and his face contorted into a frown. He was disappointed he would not be able to return to his home, but he had already accepted that fact when he decided to give his life for his village and friends in the first place. He was saddened he would never see them again, but he was happier that they would be able to continue their lives. He knew all of them would continue to be with him in spirit even if not physically. He was also happy to just have another chance at life to begin with.

He wasn't sure how to feel about finally being free of the fox after so many years. In a way, he felt connected with him, even if they had never really gotten along. If the fox still had a role in saving the world, the furball would need to go through a pretty big transformation. Hagoromo believed it to be possible, so he would trust in the man's judgment. He quickly replaced the frown on his face with a broad grin, and regained his confident composure. "Do you even need to ask, gramps?"

The faintest of smiles appeared on Hagoromo's face. "I didn't think that I would. This world is both similar and different to ours in many ways. They use an energy very similar to chakra, so your powers will not be considered too out of the ordinary. However, it appears you are to be sent there for another reason. A great evil is on the horizon. I am not sure of much past that, as it is merely an omen. But I believe your destiny there will play an important role in saving that world, just as it did this one."

Naruto's grin managed to widen even further as he pointed a thumb at himself. "If there's a world to save then I'm your guy, dattebayo!" Naruto's face then scrunched in confusion when he came to a realization. "I'm all for helping and saving people obviously, but isn't it kind of weird that my 'destiny' is to go to another dimension?"

Hagoromo thought carefully before answering, "I was of the same mind, but as I said, I am not some all-knowing god. I can simply read destinies, not find their cause or reasoning. There are beings much more powerful than I in this dimension as well as others, which are far beyond even my understanding. I am afraid only they may have an answer to such a question. All I know is that I felt compelled to do what I have done."

Naruto frowned at the sage's lack of a good answer, but soon returned to grinning once again. "Alright, old man, I'm ready when you are."

"Farewell, Naruto. Good luck in your new life. I hope you enjoy it; few deserve it more than you."

Naruto was able to get out a quick thank you and goodbye before he was once again enveloped in a bright light.

* * *

Chapter 1: Promises and Purpose

July 7, X777

Naruto's eyes fluttered open as he once again found himself waking up on the ground. However, the warm air and soft grass of this area were much more comfortable than the cold water and concrete floor of the place where he just was. As he got to his feet, he noticed the thick foliage surrounding him on all sides. While not nearly as thick or as tall as the forests that surrounded Konoha, it was still enough to greatly impede his vision. He had trouble seeing more than a few yards into the treeline, which rather suddenly gave way to the peaceful and green clearing he was in.

He looked around himself to see if he could make out a possible path, but saw nothing of the sort. He tapped his foot and groaned as he thought of his best course of action. It would probably be best to find a road so he could make it to a town to figure out more about where he was. The sage hadn't told him much about the new world he had been sent to. Creating twenty shadow clones, he sent them off in random directions to find the nearest road. After they had chosen their paths, he took one that none of the others had chosen.

After several minutes of traveling through the dense forest, the dispelling of one of his clones caught his attention. He rushed in the direction that his clone had dispelled to find a dirt road that cut through the forest. Naruto let out a sigh of relief, happy that he didn't need to wander aimlessly through the forest for hours thanks to his clones. He really did love those things. Naruto then created another clone, which stared back at him intently. "You ready?" he asked, hardening his own gaze.

"Of course!" his clone responded.

"3, 2, 1—go!" Naruto and his clone counted down. On the mark of go, the two threw out their hands, Naruto's in a fist, and his clone's flattened out.

"Ha! I won!" The clone gloated. The clone continued to boast about his win until a quick punch to the face from an angered Naruto ended its short existence. Could he really be that annoying? Sometimes he hated the damn things too.

Naruto shook off his frustration, happy that at least the direction he would travel was decided. The clone winning meant he would travel north instead of south. He set off in the decided direction, hoping to come across a town as soon as possible.

* * *

After a couple hours of traveling, Naruto felt a smile cross his face when he saw what looked to be the first person he had seen since arriving in the new world. As he came closer, the smile disappeared when he saw that it was a young, crying girl standing off to the side of the trail. He broke out into a run to check on the girl, who didn't seem to notice him approaching. She had short, dark blue hair and was wearing a pair of blue shorts along with a plain white and yellow shirt. When he got around ten feet away he knelt down onto one knee and called out to her, "Hey, what's wrong?"

The small, blue haired girl was startled when he first spoke, but soon began running toward him and wrapped him in a hug. A surprised Naruto soon returned the hug, trying his best to comfort her. "She's gone! I don't know where she is!" the small girl managed to answer between sobs.

Naruto patted her gently on the back, trying to calm her. "Hey, it's alright. Who's gone?"

The girl's sobbing subsided slightly, but still continued on. "My mommy. She was here but now she's not. She didn't say she would go away."

Naruto patted the girl on her head as a grin grew on his face. "Then I'll help you find her. I'm really strong so you won't need to worry about a thing," he said, trying his best to reassure her.

The girl nodded, her crying finally beginning to come to a stop. "So, what's your name? Mine is Naruto Uzumaki," Naruto asked with a smile.

The girl took a step back lowered her head, seemingly becoming shy now that she wasn't crying and upset. "Wendy Marvell," she answered quietly.

"That's a cool name. Is there anything you can tell me about your mom? It might help us find her."

Wendy seemed to be in deep thought for several moments before finally giving her answer. "She's white, and really big," the girl said with an accomplished nod.

Naruto chuckled at the girl's cuteness before deciding to press for more information. "How big are we talking here? I'm pretty big too compared to you."

"Really, really big. Way bigger than you," she stretched her arms out as far as she could to try to show how big she was.

Naruto was a bit confused by that. Just how big were people around here? Naruto raised his hand to his chin in thought. "Well, that'll make her stand out some. Does she look like you at all?"

"No, she looks different. She's a dragon," Wendy answered with a shake of her head.

Naruto's mouth dropped open slightly at that. He wasn't sure if he should take her seriously, considering she was still a kid. Then again, he knew absolutely nothing about this world. For all he knew at this point the dragons here could be living, flying orphanages. He decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. "Whoa, I've never seen a dragon before. Must be cool to have one as a mom."

Wendy finally gave a small smile, the first since they met, and nodded in agreement. "Grandeeney is the best," she added before once again lowering her head toward the ground.

"Hey, don't be sad. I'm gonna help you find her remember? I may not be a dragon but I'm still pretty awesome," he said as he gave her an overdone cocky grin. "So, you have no idea where she might've gone? Did you guys live somewhere around here?" he asked. It was kind of odd that she was out in the middle of nowhere.

"I don't know," Wendy said in disappointment.

"I think we should try to find a town then and figure out where we are. I'm kind of lost too," Naruto admitted with an embarrassed chuckle.

Deciding on their plan, Naruto began guiding Wendy in the direction he had been originally heading.

* * *

Naruto let out a relieved sigh as he finally got to enjoy some dinner, which ended up being some fish cooked over the fire he and Wendy were now sitting around. It had taken him much longer than originally expected to provide dinner for the two of them, much to his chagrin. He had planned on showing his new companion just how awesome his survival skills were, but he soon learned that a five year old really couldn't care less. How cute something was was apparently more important than how good it tasted, though he had to admit he was the same way even at a later age than her. The plant life around here didn't seem to be as forgiving as back in Konoha either, making it harder to forage for non-meat.

He found himself staring at the various shapes that the light of the fire was making around the clearing they had found to spend the night. The deep oranges danced and reflected off of the small stream that ran not too far away from them, making for a relaxing sight. Being the first time he had really found to relax all day, he found his mind wandering to everything that had happened. He missed Konoha already. While he would never regret the decision he made, it was becoming increasingly hard to swallow that he would never see any of his friends again. In the moment, it seemed so easy to handle. Now though, the severity of everything was finally setting in.

Sakura, Kakashi, granny Tsunade, Iruka, and everyone else, he would never see again. He felt something drop in the pit of his stomach as he continued thinking about his now past home. While it definitely hadn't always been the best, it was still all he ever had. He wished he could somehow still be there for everyone, and help to make sure they stayed safe and unharmed. He believed in them, but that didn't mean he wouldn't worry about them even if he was there. Now that he wasn't…

Naruto found his brooding cut short as he felt a tug on the sleeve of his well-worn jumpsuit. He looked to his left to see a concerned looking Wendy. He hadn't even noticed her move from the other side of the fire. "Are you mad? I'm sorry for the bunny," Wendy said sadly.

A confused Naruto looked down at his fish to see that he had only taken a single bite out of it. The fire was about half the size of what it was when he first picked up the fish as well. Just how long had he been thinking about the past? "You're fine, Wendy. I was just thinking about some stuff. You didn't do anything," he responded with a reassuring smile. He took a big bite out of the fish to prove his point, which he ended up slightly regretting due to the fish having grown cold. He never was one for sushi or any other type of cold fish. He made sure not to show his displeasure and gave her a big smile as he gulped his bite down.

The girl giggled at him and seemingly forgot that she had just been sad and worried. "Thank you for the food; it was good. Fishies look yucky though," the girl said as she scrunched her face at the thought.

"Is that why you are okay with fish and not bunnies?" Naruto asked. He received a nod from the girl, confirming what he thought about her reaction when he tried to hunt the rabbit. "You're really polite for your age, y'know. I barely ever thought of thanking anyone when they gave food when I was five. I just tore in." Maybe he was just impolite though, or at least more than he still was now. He didn't necessarily have anyone to teach him manners.

"Grandeeney said to always be nice and say thank you."

"I guess that's usually a good idea; you're probably better than I am at it though," Naruto said abashedly.

"Did your mommy never tell you to?" Wendy asked innocently.

Naruto looked away from the girl for a moment, not sure how to answer. He didn't know a lot about being around kids, but he figured talking about being an orphan with the recently abandoned girl probably wouldn't be for the best at this point. "Uh… not really," he answered dumbly, "what else did your mommy teach you?" he asked to avert the question.

"Lots of stuff! I'm learning to read and write now. I also know how to count super high. She also showed me magic," she said proudly.

Well, one of those things was not like the others. "Magic? Like what?"

"Grandeeney called it Sky Dragon Slayer Magic. I can heal and use wind and other cool stuff," she said with a smile.

Naruto thought about the information she had given him, moderately surprised. Maybe it was similar to chakra, but they just had a different name for it. Five was pretty young to be using chakra though. Without saying a word, Naruto pulled out a kunai and made a small cut on his arm. Wendy looked at him strangely as he pulled out the knife, but quickly let out a squeal when he cut himself. She quickly moved closer to him and held her hands over the cut. A green aura emanated from her hands, and his cut quickly went away. The little girl glared at him, which hardly looked like one due to her smallness. "Why did you do that? You got hurt."

Naruto looked at his healed wound in amazement. "Whoa, cool! I wanted to see what your magic was like. You're pretty awesome, Wendy."

That didn't seem to make her feel any better, as she just pouted in response. "I didn't like it. You still got hurt."

Naruto shrugged off her worry. "It didn't hurt that much. I'm used to a lot worse than that. It would have been fine even if you didn't heal it," Naruto placated her. Wendy just crossed her arms and continued her pouting.

Finishing their conversation, Naruto quickly ate what was left of his dinner. After finishing, he looked back over at Wendy to see that she was barely staying awake, and was nearly falling over. "How about we go to bed, Wendy."

The girl nodded and finally allowed herself to lie down on the ground. Naruto put some more wood on the fire to keep them warm through the night and laid down himself. He stared up at the stars, noticing that none of the constellations he was used to were there. He rolled over onto his side and sighed, hoping to fall asleep quickly. He would need to try to stop brooding. He didn't want to turn into Sasuke.

"Naruto, I'm cold," Wendy said after several minutes.

Naruto cracked open his eyes to see her shivering slightly. The temperature really had dropped quickly since night fell. He unzipped his jacket and laid it over her, not being bothered by the cold himself. The fire was enough heat for him. Wendy quietly thanked him for it, and he gave her a smile in return.

"Goodnight, Wendy."

"Goodnight."

* * *

The next day, the pair continued heading north on the road. Naruto was really starting to get annoyed that they hadn't found a town yet. The area they were in must have been really sparsely populated. Around noon, just when Naruto was considering stopping to find something to eat, he saw what appeared to be a small town in the distance. Getting excited, he scooped Wendy up, placed her on his shoulders, and began running toward the town. Wendy was startled at first, but was soon enjoying moving at the much faster pace, giggling intermittently.

Once he was in the town, Naruto looked around confusedly. It seemed kind of weird for no one to be out and about at high noon, even for a town with probably fewer than a hundred people. Naruto set Wendy down on the ground and they began walking further into the small village. After another minute of searching, Naruto found the answer. Up ahead on the wide street they had just turned on was a group of a dozen men carrying various clubs. They were surrounding and probably threatening a man that was being held up against the wall of a shop. Naruto quickly made a shadow clone and gave it an order. "Take Wendy somewhere safe."

Wendy, who had started looking back and forth between Naruto and his clone in confusion, ended up walking away with the clone that grabbed her hand to lead her away.

Naruto cracked his neck and began walking toward the group of bandits. One of the members turned to see Naruto approaching and pointed his wooden club at him. "Get outta here, blondie. We're in the middle of somethin'."

The rest of the members in the group turned to see Naruto standing a small distance away. Each of the members was wearing a bandana with a skull insignia over his mouth. When Naruto started to do stretches and showed no intention of leaving, another member of the group called out. "Didn't ya hear 'em? Or do you want us to beat your ass?"

Naruto continued to ignore them and moved on to his next set of stretches.

"I think we got one of those tough guys, fellas. You know how we do them," their apparent leader, who was the only one with a sword, ground out in a gravelly voice. The group of men burst out in boisterous laughter and began preparing their clubs. "Don't you know who you messin' with, kid? Never heard of the Black Skull Gang?"

Naruto began laughing after the man finished. The leader deepened his glare. "What you laughin' at?"

"That name sounds like something a kid would come up with. I do know a five year old that sounds smarter than you though, so I guess it makes sense."

The man who they were threatening had been forgotten, and had been able to sneak away thanks to his distraction. Naruto had their full attention now. "You callin' me stupid? I ain't the one who's about to get his ass kicked," the leader threatened.

Naruto began laughing again. "I could beat all you guys with my hands tied behind my back." He could tell these guys were only common bandits, just like the ones in the Elemental Nations. Any decent ninja could probably beat a whole group of those guys blindfolded, and the ones here didn't seem any different.

All of the men took their turn to erupt in laughter once again. Naruto was almost starting to get pissed off. Maybe he would follow through on his claim just to prove these guys wrong. It would probably make dealing with these dumb-asses more enjoyable.

The leader looked to one of his men. "Jimmy, why don't you show our new friend here what the Black Skull Gang's all about."

A large and rather ugly man stepped forward toward Naruto, tapping his large wooden club into his hand as he approached. Naruto didn't move even as the man stopped a couple feet away from him and wound up to take a swing, aiming for Naruto's head. Just before the club would have hit, Naruto ducked under the swing, feeling air from the attempted hit ruffle his hair. Naruto quickly swept his leg across the ground while dropping down, sending the large man toppling to the pavement with a surprised yell.

The cobblestone pavement shook and fractured under his weight when he landed, and Naruto wasted no time as he stomped his foot down onto the man's stomach, further cracking the ground. The gang member let out one last groan after the hit, and his head fell to the side as he lost consciousness.

Naruto looked on at the stunned faces of the gang with a smirk. "What did I tell you guys? No hands."

Three of the men charged Naruto at the same time, trying to avenge their comrade. Naruto quickly sidestepped the first one to arrive, but made sure to leave his left leg extended to trip the attacker. The man flew forward through the air at full speed, landing face first on the pavement. The next was close behind, and Naruto planted the foot he had used to trip the previous thug and pivoted on it to deliver a powerful spinning kick at the man's head.

Surprisingly, the man had the reflexes to attempt to block the kick. However, Naruto's kick easily broke the club in half, sending splinters and Naruto's heel crashing into the man's face. The thug was out before he hit the ground, and skid several feet once he finally landed. Naruto quickly reset himself into his standard fighting stance before the next gang member arrived. The man was actually able to get a swing off, which Naruto easily stopped with the bottom of his foot.

The man tried to pull his club back for another swing, but found that his weapon wouldn't budge. He looked up from his stuck weapon to see Naruto smirking, and then found himself falling forward as Naruto drew his leg back behind him. The man fell face first into Naruto's knee and toppled over onto the ground, also unconscious. Naruto turned around to see the man he had tripped slowly trying to get back to his feet. He kicked his leg forward and stopped channeling the chakra that was holding onto the club, sending it flying into the man's face just as he turned around, knocking him back on the ground.

Naruto turned back around to see the rest of the gang members practically shaking in fear. Even the once cocky leader was starting to look unsure of himself. As soon as Naruto took one step forward, all of the members but the leader dropped their weapons and started running from him.

The gang leader turned and yelled at his fleeing men, "Get your asses back here! I'm gonna kill every last one of ya!"

Naruto began laughing as soon as they started running away. "Don't worry, I'm gonna make sure they don't get away," he said as he made a single shadow clone for each man that ran away. The clones quickly took off to capture the retreating criminals.

The leader turned back to Naruto, realizing the danger he was still in. "So, you some sort of mage then? Shoulda known with how cocky you were. I guess me and the boys must of really made a name for ourselves. You get a job to take us out?"

Naruto just gave the man a confused look. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I just saw you guys being assholes and threatening that guy so I decided to stop you."

The man visibly deflated at that, not even getting the satisfaction of being taken out by a powerful wizard after a big bounty on his head. Naruto decided to give the man a chance to surrender. "You've already lost. Either you can give up or I can knock you out like the rest of your buddies."

"I may not have my men, but I still got my pride. I ain't surrendering like some coward."

Naruto just shrugged and got back into his fighting stance, and the gang leader dropped into a sloppy stance with his sword. Naruto ran forward at a speed that would be difficult for any regular person to keep track of. His opponent tried his best to hit Naruto with a stab, but he avoided the blade by jumping high into the air. The man looked up just in time to see the bottom of Naruto's sandal about to hit his face. When the hit connected, his sword clattered to the ground, and he lost consciousness after the back of his head bounced off the pavement.

It wasn't too long after that that his clones all returned with the rest of the thugs who had tried to run away. He had them put the men into a makeshift pile, and then had the clones stand guard in case they woke back up again. After everything was done, Naruto scratched his head in thought. "I wonder where I'm supposed to take these guys. There must be a jail around here or something."

He then noticed the man he had saved peeking out from an alley not too far away. He must have stayed to watch the fight. Once he realized Naruto had noticed him, he slowly walked out from the alley and approached Naruto. When he finally got to Naruto, he gave a slight bow of thanks. "Thank you so much, I don't know what I would have done if you didn't show up when you did."

"Eh, I couldn't just stand there and let those guys kill or rob you. They were pretty weak anyway, so it really wasn't a big deal," Naruto replied.

Naruto looked back toward the pile of thugs. "Do you have any idea where I should take these guys? I can't just leave them out here to get away."

"We need to take them toward the town hall. The jail is right next to there and we can give them to the sheriff until some rune knights can pick them up."

Naruto had no idea what any of that stuff was except for the jail, so he just decided to make more clones to carry the downed men while the man led the way. On the way there, the man struck up a conversation. "Your magic is really cool. I don't know much about magic really, but I've never seen someone make clones like you before."

Naruto gave the man a smile, always happy to have someone think he is cool. "Thanks. I'm not really from around here so that may have something to do with it. What else have you seen?"

"Just the common stuff like fire and water really. We don't see mages that often around here. The nearest guild is a pretty far way off."

Naruto nodded at the information. He wondered what a guild was, but it confirmed that magic was somewhat similar to chakra and jutsu. He would need to wait to see some more for himself to find out just how similar it was.

They arrived at the town hall around a minute later, which Naruto found out was the largest building in the town. Off to the side was a smaller, box-like building, which they went up to. The man he was with knocked on the door, which at first just cracked open, but then opened fully once the person inside saw it was a familiar face. "Did they leave, Luke?"

Luke shook his head in response. "I wasn't able to make it inside in time and they ended up getting me. Luckily this guy showed up and beat all of them up." Luke then looked embarrassed. "Sorry, I forgot to ask what your name was with everything going on."

"Oh, Naruto. It's alright, I didn't even ask for your name either."

The sheriff then saw the knocked out gang members that Naruto's clones were carrying. His jaw dropped open in amazement, but he then seemed to realize something. "So a mage finally came for the Black Skull Gang? We put the bounty out months ago so I didn't think anyone was going to take it."

"I didn't know anything about a bounty. I was just coming into town because I needed to figure out where I am. I really need to get a map somewhere," Naruto admitted.

"So are you not part of a guild then?"

Naruto shook his head in response. The sheriff thought for a moment before going back inside. After a short time, he came back out with a piece of paper. "Take them and put them in the cells. The deputy in there will show you where."

The clones then filed into to small building and dispersed after dropping off the criminal they carried. Once they were all inside, the sheriff turned back to the real Naruto. "Take this to the town hall and they will give you the reward. Bounties are one of the few jobs that you usually only see mages do that don't actually require you to be in a guild. Anyone can claim the reward as long as they turn in the criminal. It's just dangerous if you aren't a mage."

Naruto took the paper that the man offered and took a look at it. It had a picture of the gang leader he just captured and some other writing. He stared at the paper for several seconds before realizing something important. He couldn't read any of it. It all just looked like random lines and squiggles. What he guessed was the sheriff's signature was written in ink on the bottom. The sheriff noticed his confusion. "Is something wrong?"

Naruto looked up from the paper to answer, "Uh, no, I'm good." Even if he couldn't read it, he still knew what to do with it. Not being able to read could cause some problems though. He inwardly groaned at the thought of needing to learn a new written language.

Naruto said goodbye to Luke and the sheriff and then turned to go to the town hall, which was a three story white building with a small garden out front. It also had some large decorative pillars that went all the way up to an overhang off the roof. It looked a bit out of place compared to the rest of the town, which was mostly made up of smaller box-like buildings with slanted roofs similar to the sheriff's building. Before making it to the door of the town hall, Naruto's other clone, which was giving Wendy a piggy back ride, ran up to him. The clone dropped Wendy off and quickly dispersed. Wendy shrieked when she saw the clone pop, and suddenly looked very worried. "It's okay Wendy, that was just one of my clones. It's… a part of my magic." Naruto wasn't sure how to explain it to her, so he just decided it was easier to tell her it was magic, something she already understood.

Wendy looked up at him in amazement. "Wow! Naruto is cool!"

Naruto gave her a prideful smirk. He liked this kid already. Respected him and thought he was cool.

Wendy continued to look up at him sweetly before asking a question, "Naruto, what does being cool mean?"

Naruto gave her a confused look. "What do you mean? Didn't you just say it?"

"You said my name was cool. I wanted to use it too; I like new words," she said with a smile.

Naruto hung his head in disappointment. "You need to be careful saying words if you don't know what they mean, you might say something bad. Just ask me if you want to know something."

"Did I say something bad?"

"No, but it's better to be safe. Grandeeney said to always be nice, right?" Naruto explained as he smirked to himself. He might just have this dealing with kids thing down better than he thought. He just needed to tell them to do the opposite of everything he did as a kid.

Wendy nodded in understanding. "So what does being cool mean?"

"Uh, it means that you look cool or do cool things," Naruto tried to explain, realizing he couldn't come up with a good definition.

Wendy just looked more confused. "But what is cool?"

"It's hard to describe; you just know it when you see it, you know? You're getting way too philosophical about it. You were right though, I am cool. Just think of cool things as things that are like me."

Wendy nodded, but still looked confused. "What does that mean? Pillow soft tickle?" she asked as she tried to pronounce the new word.

Naruto sighed in frustration. He wasn't even going to try to describe that for her, as he wasn't even sure he knew exactly how to describe it himself. "Philosophical. Don't worry about it, Wendy. We need to go in this building," he said as he pointed to the town hall. She nodded and started walking with him to the large building. At least kids were easy to distract.

As they were walking to the building, they stopped when a woman's voice could suddenly be heard through loud speakers that were apparently throughout the town. She announced that the threat was over, and that the gang members had been captured. Wendy was looking around as if trying to find the source of the voice, but Naruto prodded her to start her moving toward the building again.

Upon entering the town hall, Naruto noticed that the inside looked just as nice as the outside. The building contained polished, shining wood tables with regal chairs, appealing patterned wallpaper as opposed to a plain coat of paint, and various potted plants that seemed to be well cared for. Directly in line with the entrance, there was an elderly woman sitting behind a desk, which had a microphone on it. Off to the left of her was a staircase leading up to the next floor. She quickly noticed them after they entered. "Oh, you must be the one who caught those nasty gang members. The sheriff just called over a few minutes ago."

"Yeah, the sheriff said to give this paper to you," Naruto said with a nod as he walked up and placed the paper on the desk.

The woman looked at the paper and turned to go further back into the building and then disappeared into another room. She came back out with what appeared to be a stack of money, which she then handed to Naruto. "Here you are, sweetie. There are 30,000 jewels, just as promised," she said kindly.

Naruto guessed that must be the currency around here. He had no idea what 30,000 jewels were actually worth though. Normally he probably would have declined them giving him money, but he wasn't really in the position to turn down money. He earned it anyway, even if he didn't mean to.

Just then, a short, portly old man in a striped suit came down the stairs. Upon reaching the bottom, he appeared to be nearly out of breath. Once he collected himself, he looked at Naruto. "Ah, you must be the one who dealt with those troublemakers! They have been plaguing our town for months. I wanted to come personally thank you. Mayor Gregory Blackbell, at your service."

Naruto looked surprised at that. "They were doing stuff like that for months? No one could stop them?"

The mayor wrung his hands nervously as he answered, "Well, we only have the sheriff and his two deputies, who aren't equipped to take out a group like that. There is no guild around here to scare them off, so we put out the bounty that you cashed in. Admittedly, it is quite low compared to what is usually offered for such a bounty, but we have quite limited funds at the moment. We decided on just warning the citizens when they came so they could attempt to hide."

Naruto took a look around the room he was in again, thinking it definitely didn't look cheap. How the hell could they not have enough money to get someone to come? The mayor mistook it as him admiring the building. "I see you have good taste in decorations. We just finished some renovations very recently. You should have seen the mess this place was beforehand."

Naruto began glaring at the man. He really didn't like this guy. From what it sounded like, he put his own desires over the safety of his people. The man began to shrink back under his glare. "So you decided to fix up this place instead of trying to stop those gang members, old man?"

"Well, I wouldn't necessarily put it that way," the man said as he began to sweat.

Naruto held his glare on the man for several more seconds before turning to leave. "I don't care how you put it, you old fart. Not caring for the people you are supposed to protect will bite you in the ass eventually. You're just lucky I came through when I did; I won't always be here to do your job for you," he said as he grabbed Wendy's hand and walked toward the door. He heard the mayor sigh in relief as he neared the exit.

A few years ago, he probably would have had a much more violent reaction to something like this. However, he now knew it probably wouldn't actually solve anything and only get him in trouble. Once they were back outside, Wendy tugged on his hand to get his attention. "Naruto was mean. And you said a bad word."

Naruto chuckled at being scolded by the little girl, and continued guiding her down the road as he talked. He wanted to find an inn of some sort and somewhere to eat. "Sometimes people don't deserve you being nice to them. And I'm old enough to say words like that, Wendy. Just don't say them until you're older."

"Grandeeney said to always be nice," she said seriously.

"I know, and you should always try. I usually am as long as people are nice to me or I think I can change their mind. It's just kinda hard with people like that guy back there," Naruto explained.

"What was he like?"

"Don't worry about it too much now, you'll get it when you're older. He was really greedy and only cared about himself. Come on, we need to get something to eat," he said as he saw what appeared to be a cafe.

* * *

Later that night, Naruto was sprawled out on the queen-sized bed of the room he had bought in the local inn. During the day he had managed to find various stores where he was able to buy a map, camping gear, canned food, and various other supplies. After buying the supplies, food, and the hotel room he was left with around 10,000 jewels left. He noticed that the Jewels didn't seem worth quite as much as ryō, so he would need to get used to things costing more to buy.

He also finally found out what a mage guild was by asking the innkeeper. Apparently it was an organization of banded together mages. When they were registered with the government, they could then legally take jobs. There were also dark guilds though, which took illegal jobs and caused a lot of trouble.

Naruto was wondering if he should join one, as it would make it easy to get money. However, he looked over at Wendy, who was laying on the opposite side of the bed, and remembered his promise to her. If he joined a guild it would probably make it a lot harder to travel around looking for her mom. He also wouldn't mind spending some time exploring, as it would help him learn about the new world he was in.

That still left the problem of money though. He groaned as he tried to think of the best way to make some. The only thing he was really good at was fighting, so that kind of limited his options unless he turned to manual labor. He struck down that idea as he turned in bed, trying to get comfortable. He hated manual labor. He had to do enough of that when he was doing D-rank missions.

Finally, an idea clicked in his head. The sheriff said that anyone could claim bounties, not just mages in a guild. He smiled as he thought of the idea. It would also be a good way to help people and kick ass at the same time, just like he did as a ninja. He thought he remembered seeing some board in the sheriff's office that had papers with pictures on them from the memories of his clones, just like the one the sheriff gave him. Those probably all had information on the people with bounties on them, which he could use once he could read them.

Sighing with satisfaction at his plan, he turned over one last time before finally drifting off to sleep.

* * *

Omake: Naruto: Survival Expert

"Alright, Wendy, I'm gonna show you how to survive out here in the middle of nowhere. I'm pretty much an expert at this sort of stuff," Naruto bragged as prepared to go find them some food for their first night together. Wendy, however, didn't respond. He looked around in confusion trying to find her, only to see her giggling as she chased a butterfly. He groaned in frustration. "Hey, Wendy!" he yelled to get her attention. She finally noticed him and skipped over to him.

"You gotta pay attention here, Wendy. I'm trying to show you a survival expert in action. You don't see stuff like this every day," he admonished.

Wendy just tilted her head in confusion and followed him into the woods.

Not too long after they entered the woods, Wendy yelled out in excitement. "Look, a bunny!" she said as she pointed off to the side.

"Good eye, Wendy. Now we just need to set up for the kill," Naruto said as he pulled out a kunai.

Wendy let out a yell and ran into Naruto as hard as she could as he was about to throw the knife. Naruto yelped in surprise, and his aim was thrown off enough to miss the rabbit. The rabbit got startled and ran away into the woods. Naruto frowned and turned back to Wendy, only to be met with wide, tearing eyes. Naruto suddenly felt the anger in his heart melt, unable to stay mad at something so cute. Naruto held out his arms for a hug. "Forgive me, Wendy. I don't know what I was thinking."

After they made up, his next plan was to try foraging. "Alright, Wendy, you need to be careful with what you find to eat out here. Some of this stuff is poisonous."

Wendy nodded, and continued to follow him. Finally, he found a bush with some red berries. He carefully knelt down to inspect them, but apparently the plants around here were nothing like the ones back in the Elemental Nations. Suddenly, a giant beetle the size of Naruto's hand flew by and landed on his shoulder. Naruto jumped away in surprise, and felt his elbow squish into something soft and warm. Naruto, with terror in his eyes, looked over to see his arm elbow deep in something sticky and brown. Luckily he had taken off his jacket and tied it around his waist earlier. He groaned and stood up, cursing his luck. On the first step he took forward, he heard another squelch. Freezing, he took a closer look at the ground and paled. There was shit everywhere, with what looked like those red berries in it. Definitely not eating those.

"Be careful, Wendy. Something pooped all over the place over here."

He once again got no reply. Turning around, he saw her admiring and smelling some flowers a little ways away.

"Fuck this shit; I'm going fishing."

* * *

Chapter Notes: Most action scenes will be longer than the one in this chapter. It was only so short because of who he was fighting, and it was mostly part of introducing Naruto into the world. It was originally supposed to be longer, but I decided to cut it because I felt like it would have dragged on for too long.

Story Notes: This will be a three part story, with the first start being everything that happens before X784. Each part will also have its own distinct sections. The first section of the first part will skip through time much faster than the other parts, as it will mostly be a highlight reel of Naruto's time as a bounty hunter, showing the most important events (Which honestly don't usually involve him doing bounties, as most of those would just be random fights.). It would drag on too long otherwise. While it will introduce some characters or things important for later on in the plot, it will mostly introduce Naruto to the world.

Also note that while Levy is a main character, she will not appear during the entire first section of the first part for obvious reasons. I will answer any questions asked in reviews with PMs as long as it won't spoil too much, so feel free to ask any questions you may have. The rough outline is already done out to the end of the second part, but I already know the major plot points that will come up in the third part. Finally, these omake are "canon" in the context of the story, in that they are actual events that take place. They are just little scenes that don't really fit in a full chapter.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Change and Protection

September 12th, X777

Naruto hummed thoughtfully as he received the award for his latest completed bounty, a decent sum of 60,000 jewels. It had been easy, just like every other one he had done so far. After two months of experience, he had decided that he had definitely made the right choice in becoming a traveling bounty hunter. It was basically like they were giving out free money for someone like him. It also made it much easier to gather potential information on just where Wendy's mom could be. After pocketing his reward, he went back over to the bounty board located in the corner of the city hall he was currently in.

Though the town where they were currently residing had a larger population of around 2,000, the city hall was much more modest than the first one they had been in. While it was still the most appealing building in town, it didn't feel nearly as lavish and unnecessary. The bounty board had been thoroughly picked over by this point, entirely thanks to Naruto. Only one request remained on it, one for a fire mage and his non-mage lackeys that had been pulling off highway robberies in the area.

Naruto hadn't actually taken a bounty request involving a mage, which he was thinking about changing. Since he now had a kid to care for and lacked the fox for his healing powers, he had been a little more apprehensive than he used to be. However, at least from what he had found out so far, he could probably handle most unaffiliated mages with no problem. Though they would be more dangerous than the average bandit due to their ability to throw spells around, they probably wouldn't be any more threatening than a genin. Most mages worth anything were part of a guild, whether dark or light.

He finally made his decision and grabbed the paper off the board, folding and placing it in his pocket. He looked over toward the entrance, where he had left Wendy sitting down in a chair, and then walked over to her. "Alright, Wendy, all done. Let's go stop by a market to pick up some food," he said, holding out his hand to help her up.

She grabbed his hand and was quickly back on her feet, ready to head back out into the town. Though the town, Coriander Town, was of a decent size, it's brick roads and brick houses allowed it to maintain a quaint feeling. Wendy looked up at him happily as they began walking down the street. "Can we get a peach? I saw one in my book and it looked yummy," she asked.

"Sure, we'll need to see if they have any though. I have no idea when in the year they pick them," he responded. He thought for a moment about what she had said before adding to his statement. "We can stop by a bookstore too if you want. You probably read all the ones from last time didn't you?"

Her smile got even bigger at the idea of more books, and she nodded excitedly to answer his question. Naruto had been under no illusion when they first started traveling together that he would be able to teach the girl language and whatever else she would need to know. She probably knew just as much as he did about most of it, if not more. He could teach her how to fight when she got older if they were still together, but there was no way in hell he could teach her about history or language. The only solution he could think of was giving her books and different learning activities.

Luckily, she basically devoured everything that he gave her. Though Grandeeney had taught her the basics of reading and writing with what she had, books probably weren't an easy thing for a dragon to get. This made things like children's books an entirely new experience for her, and she seemed to love it. It was basically all she did when he left on a bounty hunt if she wasn't playing with the clone he left with her. That also meant she got through them quickly, forcing them to stop at the local bookstore of whatever town they were in constantly. He would probably keep it a secret for the rest of his life, but he used to have a clone read some of the books and do the activities to help him learn the new written language while she was sleeping.

At first she would ask him to read her a story and he would need to come up with an excuse not to. The look she gave him each time almost tore his heart in half, so he learned the new form of writing and alphabet as quickly as possible. It didn't actually take long at all once he started trying. The language was very similar in use to what was used in the Elemental Nations, just with different letters and symbols.

Naruto broke away from his line of thought when he saw a small shop not too far down the street with a sign labeled "Market" out front. He and Wendy entered, quickly being met with the aroma of fresh fruit and vegetables. A middle aged woman behind the front counter gave them a smile and welcomed them to the shop. Naruto gave Wendy a slight nudge, which caused her to look up at him questioningly. A quick nod toward the older woman told her what he wanted her to do, and she started twisting her foot back and forth on the floor. He had been trying to break her of her shyness toward others for the last month or so. She had attached to him very quickly, possibly out of necessity, but around anyone else she became incredibly shy and hardly said a word.

Wendy, with her hands held behind her back, slowly approached to woman behind the counter. "U-um, excuse me. Do you have any peaches?" she asked while looking up at the woman.

The woman smiled warmly at her as she answered. "Oh my, look at you. One of the farmers we buy from just happened to bring his last harvest in yesterday. They're right over there, sweetie," she said, pointing to a spot halfway down the middle aisle. Wendy uttered a small thank you and hurried back to Naruto, grabbing onto his sleeve.

Naruto took Wendy to the section the old woman had indicated and gave her a smile. "See, that wasn't that bad. I knew you could do it," he said while ruffling her hair. She gave him a small smile in response and grabbed one of the peaches, looking at it with interest. After she had made her choice, Naruto ushered her along and they picked out various other food supplies that they could use. After they were done, Naruto took out his wallet, a new plain one, and gave the woman the money for their purchases.

She smiled down at Wendy again. "How about you take the peach for free. You're just the cutest little thing I've seen all day," she said as she gave Naruto back the money for the peach.

The two turned to leave, but Naruto turned back around on the way out. "Thanks again for the peach, granny." He could have sworn he saw the woman's face twitch when he said granny, but her smile remained.

Wendy also looked back with a smile before repeating after Naruto, "Thank you, granny." This time the woman's eyes narrowed at Naruto, at the same time still managing to hold her smile. Naruto felt a chill go down his spine. He didn't know a nice looking old lady could make such a scary look. He quickly turned to leave, bringing Wendy with him.

Back on the street, Naruto looked down at Wendy and scratched the back of his head. "Hey, uh, Wendy. I'm proud of you for being able to talk to the lady, but you probably shouldn't call people stuff like granny," he said. She had obviously gotten it from him, which made him feel even worse.

"How come, don't you say it?" she asked while tilting her head.

"A lot of people might think it isn't very nice; people don't usually like being called old. Honestly, there's probably a lot of stuff I do that you shouldn't do."

Wendy puffed out her cheeks before responding, "Then you shouldn't say them too. You should be nicer."

Getting scolded by a five year old started out being cute and kind of funny, but Naruto was starting to get increasingly tired of it. No small part that tiredness was due to the fact that Wendy usually had a point, and that she herself typically managed to be politer and more respectful than him.

"Why do you want to say the stuff I say anyway? I never told you to."

"I like you a lot. I want to be big and strong like you," she said with a smile.

So she looked up to him? Since he was the only one she was around, it made sense. In a way, he was also hoping that she would. He'd never really been a role model for anyone except for Konohamaru though.

Naruto suddenly froze in his spot, coming to a realization. Konohamaru acted the way he did because he was his role model. He turned to Wendy, who was looking up at him with a confused face. His face became pale as he realized just what type of influence he could have on the girl if she stayed with him for a long enough time. As much as he liked Konohamaru, the kid could be a brat. He knew part of it was his upbringing as the "Honorable Grandson," but he seemed to get even worse over time.

Wendy, on the other hand, was the exact opposite. He hoped to make her more confident, but he wasn't planning on her picking up his less admirable qualities as well. He didn't want that. Hell, no one would want that. She was already a much better kid than he ever was, just a bit shy. Maybe he could just tell her not to do those things?

For some reason, he felt like that wouldn't always work. He knew that he shouldn't become perverted even though he looked up to Jiraiya, but Wendy didn't seem to know what she should and shouldn't take from him. Now that he thought about it, Konohamaru was the same way. He took both good and bad qualities from him. Maybe kids couldn't always tell the difference?

"Naruto?" Wendy asked in worry.

Naruto finally broke away from his trance, noticing he had stopped in the middle of the road. "Sorry, Wendy."

He started walking again, heading toward where he knew the bookstore to be. He glanced at the girl out of the corner of his eye. If he was going to be her role model, then he would need to try his hardest to be the best one possible. There was no way in hell he was going to give her any of his bad habits.

* * *

Naruto wiped the sweat off his forehead as he finished his attempt at stir-fry with the food he had gotten at the market. He had bought a portable wok to try to start cooking around a month ago. Even though he thought he followed the directions from the cook book exactly, it still ended up a bit burnt, as always. He knew he would never be good at cooking, but he had decided to try as an attempt to save money and serve Wendy healthier food than instant noodles and stuff from restaurants. Wendy never seemed to complain though, so he figured it was fine.

He brought the food over to the table and put a serving out for each of them, and then sat down across from Wendy. The hotel room was small and plain, but offered a small kitchen as well as every other necessity. Wendy set down one of the new books she had been reading and picked up her fork to start eating. "Hey, Wendy, how long have we been here?"

Wendy set down her fork to count with her fingers, which she then held out to Naruto with a proud smile. "Seven days. So a week."

Naruto nodded and smiled at how proud she was. "How about after this next bounty we go to another town? No one seemed to know anything about dragons here either, and this was the last bounty they had anyway." They usually spent around one week in every village they stopped in. That was about how long it took Naruto to clear out most of the bounties they had available.

"Will the next town know about Grandeeney?"

"There's always a chance; that's why we need to keep moving to find out. We just need to keep looking and I know we'll find her someday," he said as he gave her another smile. He knew it was unlikely though, as they hadn't found any useful information yet. Most people seemed to think that dragons were legends or that they had died out hundreds of years ago. He would never stop helping her find her though, no matter how long it ended up taking. He had promised her to find her mom after all.

They ate in silence for the rest of the meal, at which point Naruto noticed Wendy seemed to be deep in thought. She hadn't even thanked him for the meal, which she always did even though he told her she didn't need to. It felt kind of weird to have someone thanking him all the time. "You okay, Wendy?"

She looked apprehensive for a few seconds before gaining enough courage to ask what she wanted. "How come your mommy never told you to be nice?"

Naruto wasn't expecting that. "What makes you think that?"

"You said your mommy never told you to be nice like Grandeeney told me. Is that why you call old people granny?"

Naruto remembered now. She had asked him that when he said she was better at being nice and polite to people a while ago. Kids seemed to remember everything you didn't want them to.

Naruto decided it would be alright to tell her now, and she didn't deserve him lying to her. His eyes became half-lidded as he said, "I guess that's part of it. I never knew my mom."

Wendy's eyes widened. "What about your daddy?"

"I never had him as a kid either." He had technically met him when the fox was nearly released, but that short time hardly even counted.

"Why not?" Wendy asked, a frown contorting her face.

Naruto smiled sadly and looked down at his empty plate. "They had to go away when I was really little to do something important. They weren't able to come back after they were done though. I didn't really have anyone to tell me what to do or what not to do, so I just did whatever got me the most attention. Calling people names usually worked, so I guess I kind of got used to it," he explained.

Naruto was surprised when he suddenly felt something press into his side. Wendy had gotten out of her chair to hug him and was now sniffling into his shirt. He put his arm around her in order to comfort her and chuckled sadly before saying, "It's alright, Wendy. You don't think I turned out that bad, do you? I still found other people that I could think of as my new family."

She slowly began to stop sobbing as he hugged her. "Do you think Grandeeney had to do something important too?"

"Grandeeney loves you Wendy, just like I know my mom and dad loved me. There's no way she'd leave you unless she had to. Whatever she had to do was to protect you. You remember all the things you did together, right?" he asked, and Wendy gave him a small nod.

"Then you'll always have a piece of her with you, even if you don't know where she is," he added. She looked up at him and gave him a smile, which Naruto returned.

"Whenever I miss someone I can't see anymore; I always think about the stuff we did together. Sometimes it almost makes it feel like they're actually with me." He'd been doing it countless times for the last two months. "You just need to make sure you remember who you still have with you too. I'll always be here to cheer you up." Just like she was for him. If Wendy hadn't been around to distract and ground him, he would have been in a lot worse of shape.

Wendy nodded in understanding as she continued to cling to Naruto. Suddenly, her face lit up as if she remembered something important. "Thank you for the food."

Naruto chuckled and patted her on the head. Maybe he would stop telling her she didn't need to thank him for the food all the time. He was actually starting to like it now that he was getting used to it.

* * *

Two hours later, Naruto waved to Wendy and his clone as he left for his bounty hunt. He walked down the stairs to the first floor of the inn, which doubled as a bar run by the innkeeper. Being the middle of the day, it was deserted except for the innkeeper and a couple of men at the bar. The old man nodded lazily at Naruto from behind the bar, which Naruto returned. Naruto took the bounty paper out of his pocket as soon as he got out onto the street and began reading it again. He was so engrossed by the paper that he almost ran into a cart that was just outside the door.

He briefly wondered where it had come from but quickly decided that it wasn't important enough to worry about. Looking back at the paper, he read it over again to make sure he remembered all of the information. The group was suspected of hiding out somewhere in the forest north of the town. Naruto remembered seeing the forest before, and recalled that it wasn't too big. Hopefully that meant this one would be quick and easy.

The area surrounding Coriander Town was almost entirely flat, grassy fields, which allowed for fast and easy travel. Naruto arrived at the small forest after only several minutes of traveling at a run and then decided to jump along the tree branches for the improved stealth and viewing angles they offered. The late afternoon sun provided more than enough light to see forest floor from the tree tops, which would make looking for any signs of people even easier. Within minutes, Naruto found what appeared to be the encampment being used by the criminals.

Seven tents were spread throughout the grassy clearing, and the remnants of a campfire were in roughly the middle of the spread out tents. Naruto waited for several minutes to see if any of the criminals were still around, but he couldn't see any movement inside or outside of the tents. Finally losing his patience, he dropped down from his perch and walked up to one of the tents. Opening the one that was nearest to him, he only found sleeping bags, opened cans of food, and various other camping supplies. Maybe they were out trying to rob someone? If so, it would let him easily set some traps while he waited.

A sudden surge of memories stopped any of his planning of traps. "What the…" he said as he looked back in the direction of town. He groaned when he realized that his clone he had left with Wendy had fallen asleep not long after she began reading a book. Did the damn things even need to sleep? Naruto soon forgot his frustration, which was replaced by a clenching in his chest as he realized what getting the memories of the clone meant. What had dispelled his clone?

"Well, what do we have here?" he heard an unknown voice say from across the clearing. The source of the voice, a man with a long scar across his face, slowly walked into view from the woods. Quickly glancing around the clearing, Naruto noticed that four other men were walking toward him from the edges of the woods. So it had been some sort of trap all along. But how did they know he would be coming?

"So I take it you guys are the ugly assholes that have been robbing people around here?"

The scarred man chuckled as he walked closer. "I don't think you're in the position to be throwing around insults, kid." He pulled a revolver out of a holster on his waist and held it at the ready.

Naruto was about to rush the man so he could quickly get back to the hotel and find out what happened to his clone, but he stopped as the man waved his gun in a chiding fashion. "Now, I wouldn't do anything too rash if I were you."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "What makes you say that?" Even though the gun was more dangerous than a sword or club, he had dealt with plenty already. The thug couldn't shoot him if he was a foot away. Even if all the other criminals had guns too, he would be far too fast for any of them to hit him. All of the men stopped their advance and made a circle around him, each about thirty feet away.

"Let's just say that I'm pretty sure that by now we have something very important to you in our possession," the man said as a wicked smile crept onto his face.

Naruto paled. Was that what dispelled his clone?

Seeing Naruto's reaction, the man gained confidence and stepped closer, now only ten feet away. "If you cooperate and give us everything on you, we might just give her back safe and sound."

Naruto didn't respond, his attention fully on the ground. How could he have let this happen? How did they know he was coming or know where he was staying?

"So, what's it going to be, kid?"

Naruto's eyes snapped upward toward the man, all of the anger at himself being replaced with anger for the men surrounding him. He blocked out the pain he was feeling in his palms from his clenched fists. "What are you doing to her?"

"Nothing yet. I can't guarantee it will stay that way if you don't do as we say."

Naruto stayed silent for several seconds. "You made a mistake," Naruto said as he glared at the man in front of him, ignoring his words.

The scarred man laughed. "And just what is that?"

"You were stupid enough to try something like this on me in the first place, but then you decided to go after Wendy. Now you just made this whole thing personal," Naruto said as he drew a kunai.

The man laughed and raised his gun to aim it at Naruto. "I'll give you one last chance. Move again and I'll shoot," he said as a confident smile grew on his face.

Naruto took one step forward, and the man stayed true to his word. A loud bang rang out in the once quiet forest, causing birds to scatter from the trees. The confident smile quickly fell from his face. Faster than any of the men could see, Naruto swung his kunai, deflecting the bullet away from him. A loud yell drew everyone's attention to a man standing to the left of Naruto, holding a now bleeding knee. "How in the—" another one of the men began, but was cut off by Naruto's foot crashing into his face from a flying kick.

Naruto quickly turned to look at three remaining men all standing at various distances across from him. They had finally broken out of their stupor and were focused on him once again. Naruto broke into a run, stepping from side to side in order to dodge each shot the scarred man sent his way. The man quickly used up all six of his bullets and frantically tried to reload as he ran from the approaching Naruto. "Hold him off, you idiots!" he said to the two sword wielding men left standing.

The men rushed to stand between their leader and Naruto. One chose to continue on and try to take a swing at him, but Naruto easily side stepped the attack and hit the man with a powerful punch, instantly knocking him out. Naruto continued running toward the last two men, throwing several shuriken as he drew near. The final man with a sword caught a throwing star in his leg and dropped to his knee in pain. Naruto jumped as he approached the man, landing one foot on his head and then using it to jump off toward the scarred man, who was nearly finished reloading his revolver.

He looked back up just in time to see Naruto falling toward him, but was unable to get a shot off. Naruto landed on top of the man, forcing him to fall harshly on his back. He held his kunai above his face and glared down into the man's eyes. "Where did you take her?"

"I'm not telling you shit, kid. A little punk like you doesn't have the guts."

Naruto could feel his rage at the man nearing a boil. He hadn't felt so much anger since the Pain had attacked the village. He stared down at the man for several more seconds before acting. He brought down the hand with the kunai onto the man's face, whose body went slack. He drew his hand back and wiped off the blood on the man's shirt. The unconscious man looked even uglier with his now broken nose.

Naruto holstered his still clean kunai and made several shadow clones to tie up and watch the men. Finally finished, he took off running toward the town as fast as his legs could take him. He was back at the town in just minutes and jumped from rood to roof to make it to the inn as fast as possible. Entering the inn, he saw that the bar area was completely empty. He made a clone to check for any evidence of what happened and rushed up the stairs toward his and Wendy's room.

He felt his heart throbbing in his chest as he put his hand on the doorknob and began turning it. Once he opened the door, he didn't see anything out of the ordinary. He frantically checked the hotel room for any sign of Wendy but found none. She was gone. He felt the anger at himself and the people that took her return with its full force. How could he have let something like this happen?

He shook his head and pushed his anger away in order to focus on what was most important. He needed to save Wendy. He sat down in a meditative position and began calming himself and drawing in the natural energy around him. He had entered sage mode several times in the past two months for practice and in order to test if it still worked. He found that it still worked perfectly but also discovered that he could only sense those with magical power at any useful distance. It felt different but similar to chakra at the same time, and each signature felt slightly different. After a short time, Naruto reopened his eyes to reveal the frog-like irises that signified his transition to sage mode.

He felt out for the signatures around him, trying to find one that felt like Wendy's. There was one that felt just like hers southwest of town, but there was another person with magic near her. Naruto realized it must have been the fire mage that was not with the men that he had defeated earlier. He went back down the stairs and saw that his clone had found the bartender knocked out and hidden behind the bar. He told his clone to get him some help as he ran out the door.

With the enhanced speed of sage mode, Naruto made it to the location where he had sensed Wendy within a minute. Around a mile out of town stood a long abandoned barn in one of the many sprawling fields that surrounded the town. With its missing chunks of wood and extensive water damage, it looked about ready to collapse at any moment. It seemed like a pretty cliché place for criminals to be hiding out, and Naruto probably would have chuckled at it if the situation was different. Quickly throwing together a plan, Naruto transformed himself into the scarred man he had fought before and approached the door of the barn.

He opened the large barn door and stepped in to find the inside of the barn illuminated with several glowing lacrima powered lamps and some rays of sunlight coming through the holes in the wood. Four people were sitting around the barn on various wooden chairs and crates. Two of the men who were situated around a pulling cart that looked vaguely familiar to Naruto, but he couldn't place how. His sensory abilities pointed to Wendy being in that cart.

"You're back early, Bosco. That bounty hunter that much of a pushover?" one of the other men asked. His arms were covered in tattoos, most of which depicted something to do with fire. The man was practically a walking billboard that said "I am a fire mage".

"We took him down no problem. The rest of the boys are keeping an eye on him now," Naruto said as he stepped toward the mage.

The mage smirked in response. "How much he have on him?"

"200,000. Kid was pretty loaded for how easy we took him down. What're we doing with the girl?"

The mage laughed shortly before answering, "Not sure. We could probably make good money off of her if we sold her off as a slave. Probably wouldn't be hard—" The man was unable to complete his sentence as a powerful punch to the stomach sent him flying through the wall of the barn, leaving a large hole in the already falling apart wall.

Hearing the man's words, Naruto had been unable to continue to keep his anger in check. How the hell could someone think of selling off anyone, let alone a little kid? He dropped his transformation and made quick work of the remaining men, which he easily knocked out in their surprised states from their leader being blown though the barn wall.

"Well, that was pretty easy," Naruto said as he approached the cart where they had been keeping Wendy. He stopped his approach when the entire side of the barn he had knocked the mage through erupted into flames. He cursed mentally and looked at the men he had knocked out. He couldn't just leave them to die. He made three shadow clones and had them carry the unconscious men out while he turned his attention back to the cart. There was only one crate on the cart, which Wendy had to be in. He picked up the crate and ran toward the nearest wall of the barn, crashing through the rotting wood and back into the outside air. He set the crate down a safe distance from the barn, which seemed to be nearing complete collapse.

He made a clone to continue looking after the crate and turned back in the direction of the burning barn. The fire mage must have still been conscious somehow. Any of the other thugs he had dealt with so far would have been out cold from a hit like that. Were mages sturdier just because they had magical power?

"You have some annoying magic, kid," the mage said as he came around the side of the barn. He looked worse for wear and was holding his stomach in pain, but it was impressive he was still even standing.

Naruto only narrowed his eyes at the man. "What the hell was that? Were you just going to leave your friends to die in there in order to kill me?"

The man began to laugh but then winced in pain. "I couldn't care less about their lives. I could find someone to replace all of them in a heartbeat. It's shame that you must have taken out Bosco though. I actually liked him." The mage held out his arm and Naruto felt a surge of energy. "Fire Bullet!" A blast of fire came out of the man's hand and flew toward Naruto's clone and the crate holding Wendy. Naruto's eyes widened in realization and he moved to quickly place himself between the blast of fire and Wendy.

The fire hit Naruto and exploded, leaving the fire mage to laugh but once again wince at his suspected victory. "Types like you are too damn predictable. It's almost too easy."

A blur suddenly emerged from the fire and smoke of the attack, and the mage froze as he saw Naruto rushing toward him with a spiraling blue ball in his hand. "Rasengan!" Naruto drove the attack into the man's already injured stomach, and after several seconds of grinding into it the attack exploded, sending the man tumbling violently across the ground for nearly one hundred feet. After several seconds of watching the downed man, he felt assured that he was finally down for the count.

He let out a sigh of relief as he turned back to finally get Wendy out of the crate, feeling that it was now safe for her. The fire attack had only left his clothes slightly singed, as it had been pretty weak compared to most of the fire jutsus he had encountered back in the elemental nations. When he reached the crate, he opened it to see a terrified and shaking Wendy. His felt both saddened and elated as he saw her, but mostly felt happy that the tension he had felt in his chest since she had been taken disappear.

She instantly looked relieved when she saw him, and he quickly lifted her out of the crate and removed the bindings and gag that had been put on her. He was down on his knees when she was finally freed, and she threw her arms around his neck as tightly as she could. "Naruto, I was scared! They came in and grabbed me and took me away," she said as she began crying uncontrollably into his jacket. Naruto hugged her tightly to him and his heart sunk even further. He wasn't sure how long it would take him to forgive himself for letting something like this happen.

"Did they hurt you?"

Luckily, Wendy shook her head. Naruto let out a relieved sigh. "I'm sorry, Wendy. I shouldn't have ever let something like this happen. I promise I'm never going to let it happen again."

"You didn't do anything wrong," Wendy said with a frown.

Naruto gave her a sad smile. "But I'm still the one that needs to protect you. I couldn't forgive myself if I let you get hurt."

She shook her head and was able to stop crying. "I knew Naruto would save me."

"I'll always be there to save you. I'm just going to make sure I stop whatever I would need to save you from before it happens next time," he said with a small chuckle. It was at that moment that Naruto realized Wendy had quickly become the most important thing in his life. She was the only thing giving him meaning in this new world. If he lost her now, he wasn't sure what would happen to him. He was more motivated than ever to make sure he would never find out.

"I'm glad you're safe, Wendy," he said lowly. The small girl just continued holding onto his jacket.

* * *

By the next day, the mage and all of his lackeys were sitting in the local jail awaiting their trials. Naruto had made sure kidnapping was added to the list of charges they would be facing. After some questioning, one of the men revealed that they had paid off the assistant at the city hall that handled the taking and processing of bounties. Whenever a person had tried to take the bounty for the fire mage, the mage and his men would be alerted and set a trap for the bounty hunter. Naruto was apparently the first person of any real power to go after them, and all of the others that had tried had been mugged and then threatened to stay quiet.

This time though, because Naruto had been doing bounties all week, that had set up a more complicated plan of also kidnapping Wendy once he finally decided to go after the fire mage. They had figured it would just make it even easier to threaten Naruto, and they could possibly sell her off as a slave afterward. People had been tracking him all week and he somehow hadn't noticed. Naruto grew even angrier at himself for not noticing something so obvious. He would need to be more careful in the future. He couldn't risk Wendy's safety again.

Wendy returned to her regular self fairly quickly after the whole incident, and she was now happily enjoying the peach she had gotten yesterday before they set out for the next town. "So is the peach as good as you hoped it would be?" Naruto asked with a smile as he sat across the table from her in their room.

She nodded with a smile as she finished the piece she was on. "Do you want one?" she said as she held out a piece toward Naruto.

Naruto took it and popped it in his mouth while giving her a smile. His mind briefly wandered again to how much the girl had helped him cope with being in the new world. He really hadn't met a kid as good as her before.

"Thank you for the food, Wendy."

* * *

Omake: It Was the Ghost

Naruto was quietly finishing his breakfast one morning a few weeks after starting his travels with Wendy. The little girl was sitting across the table from him and happily working through a writing activity book that he had recently bought. Suddenly, Wendy looked up in surprise. "Someone wrote in my book, Naruto," she said as she held the book up for him to see.

Naruto mentally cursed when he saw the writing. He had been secretly using the activity books to learn the new written language, but he didn't want to let Wendy know out of embarrassment. He didn't want her to lose her good opinion of him. He must have forgotten to tear out the page. He needed to think of a good excuse fast. "It was the ghost." Goddamnit.

"Ghost?"

Well, he had to roll with it now. "Yeah, it's like a person except it can go invisible and you can't touch it. I heard there was one here, but I didn't believe it at first."

Wendy shivered at the idea. "That sounds scary."

"Sometimes they also possess things and haunt them. Your book might have a ghost in it, Wendy."

Wendy shrieked and threw her book as far away as she could, scrambling out of her chair so she could get close to Naruto. Naruto sighed at his own stupidity. He'd need to buy her a new activity book later.

* * *

Chapter Notes: I would have liked to get this one out a bit earlier, but professors love cramming as much as they can in the week before spring break. I am on spring break now, so hopefully I can get some writing done. I will still be busy with non-college related things though.

Story Notes: I added the family tag to the story to better represent what the first part will be like. A lot of it will focus on Naruto and Wendy's relationship. Next chapter will be the first "major" fight scene and we will see a familiar face. Not a very friendly one though.


End file.
